Monday, September 8, 2008

Making macarons – talk about a brave decision! And here I thought that chopping off 4 inches of hair, like I did a couple of months ago, had been a bold move.

I’d had an eye on these pink beauties for quite a while but it was Helen’s wonderful tutorial that gave me the courage to finally try making macarons. And even though they don’t look like hers or the Master’s – which I was lucky enough to try – I was very glad with the results. So glad that I intend to make a new batch next weekend. :)

Start by making the macarons: grab two large pieces of baking paper and, using a cookie cutter, trace 4cm-circles, 3cm apart from each other, all over the paper. Turn the paper sheets around and line 2 large baking trays with them.Sieve the ground almonds and icing sugar together into a large bowl. Put the egg whites into a separate bowl, and using an electric hand whisk, beat to soft peaks. Add the caster sugar, and whisk until glossy. Fold into the almond and icing sugar mixture, along with a very small amount of the food coloring – it’s easier to use a toothpick to remove coloring from the bottle. Mix until just combined and evenly violet – the mixture will reduce as the air bubbles in the meringue burst.Put the mixture into a disposable piping bag, snip off 1cm from the end. Pipe blobs onto the circles on the baking paper so you have about 28-30 in total. Set aside for 30 minutes to dry – this is important as it gives the macaroons the correct texture.Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF. Bake for 5 minutes, then turn the baking sheet and bake for another 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.

Make the filling: pour the cream in a small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until hot. Remove from heat, add chocolate and jam and mix vigorously until chocolate is melted and ganache is smooth. Set aside to cool until firm enough to be piped or spooned between macarons shells.

Peel off the baking paper from the macaroons, then sandwich 2 together with a blob of blueberry ganache in the center. Repeat to give you 14-15 in total.

Store the macaroons in an airtight container for up to 3 days – I kept mine in the fridge.

I was going to make blueberry macarons the other day too! Your blueberry white chocolate ganache looks like a wonderful idea! I'll have to remember that and give it a try! Now that you have the macaron bug, I'll bet you'll be wanting to make them again and again in various flavours! I look forward to seeing them!